voter turnout

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday announced a series of what he calls “aggressive actions” to expand voter registration, saying he wants to “help combat low voter participation” amid “troubling” attempts by the federal government that might restrict voter access. But a nearly century-old voting rights organization said the governor did not go far enough.

Cuomo, in an executive order, directed all state agencies to mail or provide electronic voter registration forms to members of the public who have had contact with the agencies.

Representative Richard Hanna marked what he called the official kick off to his re-election bid -- opening one of his campaign offices in Utica Wednesday. The one-term Republican has been running for re-election in the newly drawn 22nd congressional district, and in fact has already had one debate with his opponent, Democrat Dan Lamb.

The youth vote famously played a large role in Barack Obama’s victory in 2008, but one of the big questions of this year’s election is how young voter turnout will compare with that of the previous election. This year, SUNY Oswego is playing its part in helping students register to vote.

Mitt Romney won New York’s presidential primary Tuesday without much difficulty. Romney won 62.4% of the vote statewide. Ron Paul finished second, picking up 15.7%. Newt Gingrich finished third, with 12.9% and Rick Santorum picked up 9% of the vote, despite dropping out of the race earlier this month.